


a study in death and what it means to be alive

by QZB



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Found Family, Hope Landon and Penelope are a great family unit, Hope is the god of the underworld after all, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Hellenistic Religion & Lore), Just so incredibly soft, No terribly violent things happen I just put that on as a precaution, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-05 23:18:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18376112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QZB/pseuds/QZB
Summary: A Hades and Persepone au.





	a study in death and what it means to be alive

One would think being the god of the underworld would involve lots of fire and screaming and eternal damnation but really it involved an awful lot of paperwork. Not that Hope minded, it wasn’t all bad, and it could certainly be worse. She could be stuck on carpool duty like Landon or doing the dirty work like Penelope. Neither of her friends had been around these last few days, but there was a war going on after all.

 

War means death.

 

Death means business was booming.

 

Business means Penelope hadn’t slept in weeks, Landon was running on autopilot, and Hope had an actual mountain of paperwork to get through.

Signing a final page Hope shoves the packet of completed paperwork into the “OUT” box on her desk and it disappears with a slight poof. Sighing, she grabs another packet from the pile and clicks her pen angrily a few times before signing and initialing where she always does.

 

“You look like you’re having an absolutely fantastic time.” A soft voice rings out from behind her, causing her to spin around in her chair to look directly at Penelope, dressed in her ceremonial garb, but with dark circles under her eyes betraying the soft smile she wears on her face.

 

Hope is up and out of her chair in an instant “Penelope? Why are you wearing the traditional stuff? Did I miss another meeting?”

 

“No but there is one we need to attend soon. By soon I mean in the next 30 minutes.” Penelope perches herself on the arm of Hope’s now abandoned chair. “Come on, throw on that ridiculous emo robe. We get to play at the adult table tonight. Landon’s waiting at the door.”

 

Hope sighs “Gods why do I never get told of these things?” as she goes to the wardrobe and grabs out her ceremonial robes. The robe is completely black with gold accents fitting of her rank.

 

God of the Underworld.

 

It’s a weighty title, a mantle she had to put on much too early in life, but she is good at her job and so she wears the ridiculous robe with pride. Penelope helps her put on the robe, adjusting the waistband and setting the neckline so it falls just right. She’s humming softly as she finishes adjusting the robe.

 

“You seem to be in a good mood. All the death and destruction make for some interesting days?” Hope asks, doing her hair quickly in the mirror.

 

“Death isn’t fun. My father always told me that since I was born to take this job I would grow to love it but… I don’t know if I ever will.” Penelope says, staring off into the distance. Hope grabs onto her hand, guiding her gently through the hallways of the palace.

 

As they walk Penelope speaks again, quieter this time, “There’s a war going on up there, and I guess it’s just getting to me. It’s bad enough to see all the people who willingly signed up to die but to also see the people who were just in the wrong place and the wrong time? I could have been one of them if I was born in a different time or to a different family. We all could have been one of the 909,647 people I’ve seen since Sunday.”

 

It’s oddly poetic in a way. They say that death is the ultimate escape but for Hope’s little family, death is just business. And business fucking sucks. Penelope was born to take the mantle of Thanatos, to literally become the God of Death. A dark angel among men, to shepherd them to the great beyond. Hope feels for her in a way, she’s stuck in the same endless cycle that they all are. Be born, be trained, be prepared to become a God.

 

Hope is saved from having to come up with a good answer by Landon calling out their names from the doorway “Penelope! Hope! Stop being so damn philosophical and hurry up!”

 

Penelope’s thousand yard stare is shaken out of her eyes when she responds “You’re a glorified school bus driver I don’t think you can tell me to be or not to be philosophical on any given day.”

 

The boy pretends to pull a knife out of his chest “You wound me so.”

 

Hope stops for a moment to look at her friends, affectionately bickering by the open doorway. They had all come into their mantles around the same time and for that, Hope is eternally grateful. When her father died Landon and Penelope were the ones to camp out in her room for a week to ensure she wouldn’t be alone. Landon became well versed in the secret passageways that lead from the kitchen to Hope’s room, and became quite good friends with the kitchen staff after his food stealing antics. Penelope had a way of telling you everything you didn’t know you need to hear. Her way of cutting through bullshit and any walls Hope tried to put up had cemented her as one of her closest friends.

 

They had supported Hope when she was forced to take up the mantle of Hades and she knew she would do anything to protect them.

 

“Earth to Hope. Earth to Hope! Come on, we need to get going if we want to be fashionably late to Olympus.” Landon waves his hands in front of her face

 

“Right yeah, what’s this meeting for anyway?” Hope asks as she walks through the doorway with Landon hot on her tail. The boy doesn’t answer and all she gets is a noncommittal shrug from Penelope.

 

She emerges into the overwhelmingly white and dreamy space that is Olympus. The doorway they took put them onto a small street lined with white cobblestone and fake shops.

 

The three of them set off down the street and Penelope scoffs at the fake scene before them “I don’t understand why they go through all this trouble to make an entire fake town. Nobody else is ever here except for meetings.”

 

“Zeus likes to flex his power every so often. Be grateful he lets our portal come into a normal street now, we used to come out into the Olympian sewers” Hope smiles, looking around them at the fake shops.

 

Soon enough the trio arrives to the center of town, where a large staircase rises into a white mist.

 

Penelope grumbles “god he’s so dramatic”

 

“Zeus may be dramatic but you’re literally wearing a ceremonial cape. I don’t think you get to complain about his flair” Hope says, smiling as she starts up the staircase.

 

“I resent that comparison!”

 

The staircase, thankfully, is magical so it only takes a few minutes to climb to the meeting area proper. The open air pavilion that they emerge into is bright, airy, and surrounded by large thrones of all colors and sizes. The meeting isn’t scheduled to start for another 10 minutes but most of the League is here already, milling about and chatting amicably.

 

Immediately upon entering a familiar face is smiling and yelling out an excited “Hey if it isn’t my favorite underworld dwellers!”

 

Landon is the only one of the three who actually smiles and waves back at Raf “Hey Raf! Dude it’s so good to see you again!”

 

Penelope rolls her eyes and turns to Hope “I genuinely don’t know what Landon sees in that hothead. He was awful before he took up the Ares mantle, now he’s even more unbearable.”

 

Hope shrugs “They were foster brothers before the whole ‘surprise you’re descended from gods!’ thing so I think Landon still has a soft spot for him. You can’t really blame him for having a soft spot can you?” she teases

 

Penelope narrows her eyes “I don’t know what you’re talking about Mikaelson.”

 

Hope glances around the room for a familiar brunette so she can continue to tease Penelope but is cut off by a booming voice.

 

“Take your seats. We will officially begin in a moment.”

 

Hope finds her way over to a large black throne engraved with gold. On her left and right are two slightly smaller chairs for Landon and Penelope respectively. She takes a deep breath and tries to steady herself before she steps up and hoists herself onto the high throne.

 

She settles in properly while her companions make their way over to their seats. Penelope drapes her legs over the armrest of her chair, leaning back and producing a nail file from somewhere within her robes. Landon sits in his properly as well, taking out a small notebook for notes. He looks over and meets her eyes, smiling widely. He scribbles on the page and tears it out before throwing it over onto her lap.

 

The note isn’t so much a question as a statement _“You look sad”_

 

Hope smiles to herself for a moment before summoning a pen and replying _“Your powers of observation are impeccable.”_

 

Hope thinks back to when the ceremony was done for her small family unit. Landon had the biggest shock at becoming Charon, the ferryman, because he hadn’t known he was the child of the Grecian League in the first place. He had very nearly gone down swinging before Hope had calmed him down and he accepted his role begrudgingly.

Penelope, on the other hand, had accepted her role with a sort of sad grace. She knew her destiny, and however much she may have wanted to fight it, there was no use. When Penelope’s father stepped aside and Hope granted her the mantle she knew that she was where she would always end up.

 

Landon looks up at her when the note returns to his lap but Hope is saved from further conversation with him by Zeus’ voice booming across the space. She looks around for the source of the voice and sees him standing in front of his throne, bright yellow in color, wearing his traditional white robe and holding the Eagle staff.

 

“Gods and Heroes of Greece. I welcome you all here tonight in the land of our ancestors, Olympus, to welcome two new heroes into their full mantles. I am Alaric Saltzman and as Zeus I declare this meeting of the Grecian League to officially begin.” His voice is unnaturally loud and cuts across the space. As he declares the meeting underway he slams the staff down on the ground, making it shake.

 

Behind her she hears Penelope scoff slightly at the pomp and circumstance but other than that silence has fallen across the room.

 

Alaric strides out from his throne until he’s in the center of the room and he gestures to two young women, standing on the outside of the circle. Both come when gestured too and Hope crinkles her nose in confusion upon seeing them. She knows the brunette, Josie, but there’s a pretty blonde girl next to her that’s unfamiliar.

 

Alaric clears his throat before beginning.

 

“You all know my daughter Josette. You may not know my other daughter and her twin sister, Elizabeth.”

 

Josie has a twin? A very pretty twin? Hope looked at the taller blonde with interest now. The girl looks slightly uncomfortable, but when Josie reaches over and grabs her hand she seems to relax. Alaric is still babbling on with some speech about how they’re going to take up the mantles they’ve always meant to have, how they’re born for this and they shouldn’t worry because the powers will come naturally.

 

Alaric clears his throat before moving on to the really important part of his speech “We’re going to inaugurate Josie first, so if my brothers and sisters could join me.”

 

Hope hops off the throne, going to the center with the other main gods. She ends up next to Rebekah and Freya, Aphrodite and Poseidon respectively. They share a look and an eye roll while they kneel and join hands around the circle. There’s an almost electric hum in the air as their powers mingle together.

Josie stands in the middle of their makeshift circle and all eyes go to the one figure who hasn’t moved. Caroline Forbes. She sits upon a light green throne, smiling at the two girls somewhat sadly.

 

Alaric reaches out a hand and she finally moves to the center of the space. She steps into the circle and Josie kneels before her, allowing Caroline to place her hands on her forehead.

 

Hope zones out during Caroline’s speech, she doesn’t really need to be this close to the power transfer, it’s more of a formality than anything else. They’re forming a protective barrier while their combined powers but they’re far past the times of petty family disputes and power stealing. Her eyes wander and she sees Elizabeth standing on the outskirts of the circle, watching her sister with an almost sad look in her eye. Her eyes are clear and almost blue and very pretty and looking right back at her and _oh gods_ she just got caught staring.

 

The other girl arches an eyebrow, daring Hope to break eye contact but Hope is not one to step down from a challenge. She continues to hold eye contact with the blonde before winking.

 

The girl smiles, just a little bit, before she turns her attention back to the ceremony at hand and Hope takes that as her cue to pay attention as well.

 

The ceremony for Josie finishes quickly, and then everyone stands as Alaric puts his hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder.

 

“Since there’s no other spot for Lizzie to go in our ranks Josie has offered to take her on as a right hand. She’ll be filling the mantle of Persephone. No official power transfer will be needed, so you can all return to your seats.”

 

All the Gods return to their seats and Alaric remains alone in the middle.

 

“That’s the end of our official business tonight. I know with a war going on in the mortal world you might feel more on edge than usual” he says, staring at Raf pointedly “But as always, we will let them figure it out for themselves. We are not to interfere in any way, shape, or form.”

 

With that he bangs the staff on the ground once more and the meeting is adjourned.

 

Penelope takes a moment to stretch as she stands from her seat, leaning over and tapping Hope on the arm a few times “I’m going to talk to Josie, come with me?”

 

Hope smiles slowly “Are you sure you don’t want Josie all to yourself?”

 

“Shut up, it’s not like that. Come on.” She grabs Hope’s arm and drags her off of the chair and over to where Josie and Elizabeth are talking with Rebekah, Freya, and Keelin. Hope disentangles herself from Penelope and goes to hug her aunts.

 

From behind her she hears Penelope say a soft “hey Jojo” and can’t help but smile. The other ladies hear as well and give her a questioning glance. She shepherds them a small distance away as to not be overheard by Josie or Penelope before whispering “Penelope has the biggest crush on Josie, it’s honestly so cute.”

 

Rebekah smiles and looks over Hope’s shoulder before darting out and grabbing the blonde Saltzman twin and hauling her over as well “Lizzie, are you aware Penelope is trying to court your dear sister?”

 

Lizzie, not Elizabeth. That makes more sense, Hope supposes, it fits her better.

 

Lizzie laughs, and Hope has never heard a more beautiful sound, “I think the only one who doesn’t know Penelope is crushing on Josie is Josie”

 

“I’m honestly surprised Penelope hasn’t made a move yet. She doesn’t usually wait this long to get what she wants.” Hope says, risking a glance back towards the couple, who are talking and laughing in a world all their own a few feet away.

 

“My sister isn’t just some conquest to be won Mikaelson.” Lizzie says, crossing her arms and glaring at Hope.

 

Oh shit that’s not what Hope meant, she waves her hands in front of her panicked “No no no that’s not what I meant at all”

 

Lizzie arches an eyebrow before letting out a sharp laugh “I’m just fucking with you Mikaelson. Are all of you underworld types this dense?”

 

Freya pipes in “Historically, and I’m sorry to say this darling, but yes.”

 

“I’m not dense!”

 

“And I’ll bet the underworld is really sunny this time of year” Freya laughs before checking her watch worriedly “Ah, blast it I need to bolt, the sea waits for no man. Hope darling, please do come visit more often, I miss you!” Freya and Keelin part from the group, walking down the central staircase and out of sight. Rebekah also makes some thinly veiled excuse to leave and suddenly Hope is alone with Lizzie and she’s terrified.

 

“Is it?”

 

“What?”

 

“Is the underworld sunny?”

 

“What do you think Lizzie?” Hope asks, arching an eyebrow.

 

“I mean you’re pale but not like ‘God of the Underworld’ pale, and Penelope isn’t white by any stretch of the imagination. The only one of you who really seems like you never see any sun is mophead over there.” Lizzie ticks off the three underworld dwellers while she speaks, gesturing finally to Landon who stands a few feet away talking to Raf.

 

Hope laughs, honestly laughs out loud, at Lizzie’s answer. Usually people aren’t that blunt about their opinions of the underworld and it’s refreshing to meet someone who really doesn’t care.

 

“Well you can’t just laugh and not answer, I’m genuinely curious Mikaelson!”

 

“It’s light but not sunny.”

 

“That doesn’t make any sense”

 

“It’s… hard to describe. There’s always light, but you can never see where it’s coming from. There’s no central sun, so to speak, but it’s never really dark. Not in the main areas anyway. I can really only speak to the main palace and the fields. There is darkness, it is the underworld after all, but it’s mostly well lit. The afterlife is supposed to be comfortable, and for most it is. Apparently comfort means it’s pretty much always dusk. If I was Penelope I’d make some point about how the afterlife is the dusk of your life and our lighting is always acceptably moody to match.”

 

Lizzie’s nose crinkles up as she thinks about it “Is it… scary?”

 

“Is the underworld scary?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Are you really asking me, ‘Hades, God of the Underworld’ if my neighborhood is scary?”

 

Lizzie smiles a bit “I mean when you put it that way it sounds a little dumb but the question still stands”

 

Hope thinks about it for a second. On one hand, yeah it’s the underworld it’s no walk in the park even for her, but on the other hand, there’s a sort of beauty in all the darkness and chaos. “I suppose, yes. But at the same time, it’s not really scary if you’re not actually dead. Everything in the underworld appears differently once you’ve started to pass on. So to me, my palace is beautiful but to anyone who shouldn’t be there, it looks horrifying.”

 

“I don’t suppose you have a ‘dark avenger’ form as well? Some terrifying way you appear to the dead?”

 

“Why do you assume that?”

 

“Well you’re way too cute to be some dark God of the Underworld.” Lizzie says and then clamps her hand over her mouth “I didn’t mean- not like that”

 

Hope breaks out laughing and Lizzie slaps her shoulder “Don’t get a big head Mikaelson, I didn’t mean it like that”

 

\---

 

Penelope and Josie glance over behind them where they can see Hope and Lizzie talking and laughing.

 

“Do my eyes deceive me or is that your supremely bitchy sister getting along with my no-fun boss?” Penelope whispers to Josie.

 

“Okay so A. She’s not supremely bitchy, she just doesn’t like you. And B. Yeah, I think it is. I haven’t seen Hope laugh like that since her father…” Josie trails off, catching Penelope staring at her out the corner of her eye “That look in your eye means trouble”

 

Penelope feigns innocence “When have I ever meant trouble? Whatever do you mean Josette?”

 

“Uh huh. You’re scheming. I can sense it.”

 

“I resent that. I mean you’re absolutely right but I still resent it.” Penelope winks at Josie and then turns to find Landon “Landon! Come here!” she whisper-yells at the boy.

 

Landon walks over to the girls “Hey Josie, how are you?”

 

“Landon, less Josie more scheming.”

 

“I never thought I’d hear the words ‘let’s not pay attention to Josie’ come out of your mouth but here we are. What are we scheming?”

 

“Look at Hope and Lizzie. They’re like honest to Gods laughing. When was the last time you saw Hope laugh like that?”

 

Landon thinks for a second and then snaps his fingers “You’re gonna try to set them up aren’t you?”

 

Josie looks between Penelope and Landon “This sounds like a bad idea, I just got my powers, I probably shouldn’t fuck it up immediately.”

 

Penelope smiles “You don’t have to do anything Jojo, we just need to get them to exchange numbers. Easy.”

 

\---

 

Hope was pretty sure she had never been more miserable in her life.

 

Maybe that was slightly over dramatic but really, she was very bored and dead tired of doing paperwork. She’s operating in a haze, signing forms and mindlessly initialing when a cough from behind her alerts her to someone's presence. She spins around in her chair and comes face to face with MG, Hermes, holding a letter out to her.

 

She breaks out into a smile as the happy boy does the same before running up and giving him a hug. “Sorry I missed you at the meeting last week, I got kinda caught up…”

 

“In talking to Lizzie Saltzman, I saw, it was cute.” He says, picking her up and spinning her around a few times before setting her back down

 

“It wasn’t cute, it wasn’t like that.” Hope doesn’t really know why she’s blushing but gods she’s blushing and now she can’t stop.

 

MG scoffs “uh huh, I definitely believe you.”

 

“Believe me or not it’s not like I’m ever gonna be able to see her, she’s the right hand of Demeter, of agriculture and life and everything that’s not death.”

 

“Well Josie and Penelope seem to make it work, and if the literal God of Death can fall that hard for the Goddess of growth and rebirth maybe you’re not as much of a lost cause as you think you are.”

 

“I talked to her once MG, please don’t start planning the wedding already” Hope scoffs, taking the letter from MG’s hands and opening it.

 

“If you think Penelope would let me anywhere near your wedding plans you have got another thing coming.” MG reaches to the jar of pomegranate seeds on the desk before Hope slaps his hand away.

 

“MG! If you eat one of the seeds you have to stay down here for a month! We go over this like every time! When are you gonna learn?”

 

“When I finally just say ‘fuck it’ to my job and eat 12 of them so I don’t have to do this anymore. That’s the day I’ll learn.”

 

Hope smiles at the boy, reaching into her desk drawer to grab out a candy bar and handing it to him “I don’t know if I’d be able to handle you year round. Candy bar instead?”

 

MG grabs the candy bar and says a quick goodbye before he simply disappears in front of her.

 

She rolls her eyes at his dramatics and looks at the letter in her hands. She had opened it on autopilot but now that she’s looking at it it’s not addressed to her, instead it’s addressed to Penelope.

 

Weird, she must have been out on a run or busy when MG tried to get to her. Hope stands, glad for a reason to put off work and stretch her legs for a bit.

 

She walks out of her office and into the main area of the palace, nodding and saying hello to most people she sees along the way even if they all shy away and try not to make eye contact. Being the God of the Underworld had some benefits, but the adoration of her employees and neighbors was not one of them. Most people still shied away and refused to make eye contact.

 

Hope turns the corner and continues deeper into the palace before emerging onto the open air bridge that leads to Penelope’s small house. She breathes in deeply, feeling the fresh air fill her lungs. It’s a nice break from her day, being outside for once. She looks down over the side of the bridge into the murky water of the river Acheron below and thinks about what she had said to Lizzie a week ago. Maybe there was some beauty in this place, you just had to know where to look.

 

She stops at Penelope’s front door. There’s something… off around here. She looks around the area, but everything seems normal. Hope closes her eyes, focuses for a moment. There’s something here that shouldn’t be, something alive. A mortal? Why would a mortal be in the underworld, specifically in Penelope’s house? She knocks a few times before letting herself in. There’s a yelled “whoever it is please come back later, or not at all!” from the depths of the house but it doesn’t quite sound like Penelope.

 

Hope’s eyes widen when Penelope comes into the living room, pulling on a too-big shirt, and calling back to the bedroom “I’ll be back in a second, it’s just Hope.”

 

She arches an eyebrow “And who might be back there? Someone living, vibrant, and so full of life I could smell it from a mile away?”

 

Penelope snatches the letter out of Hope’s hand and starts to shove her back towards the door “You know who, just shut up.”

 

“I’m happy for you Pen, even if I can smell your girlfriend from miles away.”

Hope allows herself to be shoved towards the door before Josie’s voice calls out to her “Wait! Hope! I have something for you!”

 

Hope looks up at Josie who is, unsurprisingly, completely naked. Penelope claps her hand over Hope’s eyes, and Josie utters out a “oh yeah, sorry.” before a piece of paper is shoved into her hands and she’s bundled out the door. She stands outside Penelope’s door for a bit before she looks down and sees neat handwriting on the page.

 

The only thing on the scrap of paper is a phone number.

 

\---

 

Unknown number (11:38) Hey this is Lizzie right? Josie gave me your number.

 

Lizzie (11:40) Who exactly is this?

 

Unknown number (11:41) Oh sorry, this is Hope! Why did Josie cryptically give me your number?

 

Lizzie (11:43) Oh she’s on her sexcapade weekend with Penelope right? I’m surprised they took a break long enough for her to talk to you.

 

Hope (11:45) They really didn’t…

 

Lizzie (11:50) Mikaelson TELL ME you did not have a threesome with my sister.

 

Lizzie (11:51) Actually if you did... don’t tell me either.

 

Lizzie (11:51) Actually please just don’t answer that question at all. I really don’t want to know what you get up to in the underworld to beat the boredom.

 

Hope (11:51) Jesus god no!

 

Hope (11:52) Josie is NOT AT ALL my type and also WHY would I- you know what? Never mind. I genuinely don’t want to know what that was your first thought.

 

Lizzie (11:53) Ignoring pretty much everything you just said, Josie won’t tell me anything about the underworld, and I wanna know more.

 

Hope (11:56) You’re lucky the alternative to talking to you is paperwork. What do you want to know?

 

\---

 

Hope’s not quite sure how long she’s been texting Lizzie because next thing she knows Landon is in front of her, shoving a bowl of soup under her nose and sitting down in a chair near her desk.

 

“You look happy” He states, eating from his own bowl

 

“Can’t a girl just have a good day around here?”

 

“Not when that girl has been working on…” Landon glances at her desk “Form 32B for about 8 hours”

 

Hope glances at the clock and then back at the form “I think I’ve been working on this same piece of paper for 8 hours”

 

“What has got the great Hope Mikaelson so distracted from her lawfully appointed duties as God of the Underworld”

 

“You’ve got to promise me you won’t laugh.”

 

“When have I ever laughed at anything you’ve done?”

 

“Pretty much every day of my life, Kirby. Seriously, promise me.”

 

“Fine fine, I promise I won’t do like a spit take or anything.”

 

“I’ve been texting Lizzie Saltzman all morning”

 

Landon, classic promise breaker that he is, spits his soup all over Hope’s desk. She jumps back out of the line of fire. “Landon! You promised!”

 

“I made that promise when I thought you weren’t going to say ‘I’m flirting with Lizzie Saltzman’ I was expecting something more tame like, ‘I’ve taken up yoga’ or maybe ‘I got distracted looking at cute kitten videos on instagram’ not... that!”

 

“I’m not flirting with Lizzie Saltzman!”

 

“Hope you hate texting! You refuse to text me or Penelope if we’re across the entire damn underworld!”

 

“I don’t necessarily hate texting, you and Penelope are just exceptionally boring.”

 

“Don’t distract from the issue at hand, you’re definitely flirting with Lizzie Saltzman” Landon lunges forward and grabs Hope’s phone from her hands, dancing across the room while he opens it up. “12:35 ‘It’s beautiful in a way that will take your breath away but is somehow impossible to describe’ wow Hope I didn’t know you were a poet.”

 

Hope scrambles up, trying to get her phone back but Landon uses his superior height to jump up on a chair and hold it up before reading some more “2:13 ‘the sun never sets, but it also never rises, eternal damnation isn’t a place but it’s really this state of forever dusk. I wish I could hate it, but it’s all I have.’ damn Hope I really didn’t know you had this sort of deep reflective nature in you.”

 

Landon hands her her phone back and slides back down so he’s sitting on the chair “So you’ve got it bad Mikaelson”

 

“I don’t ‘got it bad’ Landon, it’s just nice to talk to somebody who doesn’t have any expectations about what we do. I mean like, she obviously knows part of it but she wasn’t really into the whole Grecian League thing when we were kids, she was sent off to a boarding school because Alaric can’t be assed to be a father and Caroline had too much on her plate. The only reason we knew about Josie was because Alaric thought she was ‘stable’ enough to handle it. She was dealt a shitty hand.” She says pacing around the office a bit “And I don’t know she’s kinda sarcastic and doesn’t hold back when I say something stupid, which is really really nice because as mean as you and Penelope are you never dare to say anything mean to me, you never call me out on it because I know you’re scared of me a little bit and that’s fine but she just really doesn’t give a shit and it’s kinda refreshing.”

 

Landon nods “So basically you’re head over heels in love with her”

 

“I’m not!”

 

“But you just talked like.. The most I’ve heard you talk in a while just to explain to me how refreshing it is to talk to her.”

 

“Yeah that doesn’t mean I have a crush on her!”

 

“Oh but you totally do”

 

“Shut up Kirby, don’t you have a bus full of freshly dead soldiers to introduce to the underworld?”

 

\---

 

“Lizzie! Tell me what’s going on this instant!”

 

Lizzie looked up from her spot on the couch as her twin came barreling in the room “Oh whatever do you mean dear sister?”

 

Josie settles herself down on the couch, snuggling up to Lizzie, “You told me to give your number to Hope Mikaelson and according to Penelope” she taps on her phone a few times for emphasis “Hope has been walking around in a lovestruck daze all day. So, what did you do?”

 

Lizzie’s eyes widen comically “Lovestruck daze? Why do you have Penelope spying on Hope? Why do you care about me texting Hope?”

 

Josie sits up and exclaims “I knew it! You’re crushing on Hope!”

 

“I am not! She’s just… interesting to talk to. She’s sad and eloquent and the way she tries to convince herself to enjoy the shitty hand she got dealt is really noble.”

 

“So what I’m hearing is, you’re really whipped”

 

“No! Josie god no! I just think she’s… interesting”

 

“No, the documentary we watched about red pandas last night was interesting, what you have currently is a big fat crush on Hope Mikaelson!”

 

“Fine! Okay, say I do have a big fat crush on Hope Mikaelson, what could I even do about it? Nothing! Because she’s stuck down there and I’m stuck up here in the land of grain and harvest!” Lizzie throws her hands in the air, blowing out an exasperated breath.

 

“Lucky for you, I want nothing more than to see you happy, so I’m going to get you Hope Mikaelson.”

 

“Josie please don’t do something stupid.”

 

“When was the last time I did anything stupid?”

 

“I don’t know, when did you last see Penelope?”

 

Josie snaps her fingers “That’s it! Last time I was in the underworld to visit Penelope Hope mentioned being able to like… sense me.”

 

“Was that just Hope talking about how Penelope seems to mysteriously drop everything the moment you start paying attention to her?”

 

“No, but Pen described it to me later, it’s more like a spidey sense. We’re literally the goddesses of life and growth, we’re pretty much antithetical to everything they do down in the underworld. You know how mom always started to feel off when the plants started to die off?”

 

“Yeah, she always got really moody on the first week of winter.”

 

“Like a part of her was dying and she could feel it. I think the underworld kids have kinda the same sense except in reverse, they can sense when someone who shouldn’t be there is in their domain. That’s why Penelope never lets me stay more than a few days a month. It literally sucks the life out of you.”

 

“So the underworld kids have spidey sense for all of us children of the corn… what’s your point Josette.”

 

“Let’s just get you to the underworld and let Hope find you herself! Like a birthday surprise even though I don’t know when Hope’s birthday is.”

 

“It’s in May.”

 

“Electing to ignore how you know that, we should get you down there soon. It’s almost fall, there’s like nothing to do around here during the dead season. Perfect time for you to take a little vacation and hook up with your girlfriend!”

 

“She’s not my girlfriend! And Josie this sounds really stupid and kinda impulsive.”

 

Josie takes Lizzie’s hands in her own “Can’t a girl do stupid, impulsive things for the sister she just got back?”

 

Lizzie cracks a smile “I thought you were supposed to be the responsible sister.”

 

“Only sometimes” Josie replies, jumping up off the couch “Now come on, we have to find you an acceptably hot outfit for you to go meet your death goddess”

 

“Technically the death goddess is your girlfriend, Hope is just the god of the underworld”

 

\---

 

Hope had actually been having a pretty good month. September was relatively calm, the war seemed to be winding down and their intake had returned to normal. Penelope was getting more sleep and Landon was overall in a better mood.

 

Wandering into the kitchen she’s accosted by two voices yelling “Hope!” and “Mikaelson!” simultaneously.

 

She holds up a finger, effectively silencing both of them as she walks over to the coffee machine, setting it to make some coffee. Humming softly, she reaches into the cabinet and grabs her favorite coffee mug.

 

She turns to the two other people in the kitchen, Penelope and Landon, who are both clearly bursting to talk to her. Penelope opens her mouth but Landon shushes her with a quiet “wait for the coffee”.

 

The coffee finishes and pours into her mug. Hope grabs it, inhales deeply, and finally speaking “Good morning oh great friends of mine, what wonderful news are you just bursting to tell me.”

 

Penelope speaks “First of all, get that sarcasm out ya mouth Mikaelson, you know we’re the lights of your life. Secondly, I may have a little surprise for you. Something to kick off the fall equinox in style.”

 

Hope arches an eyebrow and looks to Landon “You’re going along with a Penelope plan?”

 

Landon puts his arms up in surrender “I really had no choice, she made me.”

 

“You have an incredibly weak spine, have I ever told you that Landon?”

 

“Landon’s lack of a backbone and your lack of faith in me notwithstanding. We have a surprise for you. So just hear me out and take a walk with me yeah?” Penelope interjects, putting an arm out for Hope to take. “You can even bring your coffee”

 

Hope lets herself be lead outside the main palace by Penelope, sighing. Landon disappears as soon as they’re outside and Penelope keeps checking her phone.

 

“What are we doing Penelope? You know I have work to do.”

 

“Ah yes, the paperwork you’re constantly complaining about and often skip doing just because you don’t feel like it?”

 

“What’s your point Penelope? Where are we going? What’s going on?”

 

“I’m honestly just on distraction duty while Landon puts your surprise in your office.” Penelope shrugs, looking around “I think we need to go a little bit farther before we head back”

 

They continue walking in relative silence, past the Asophael Meadow, where Penelope suddenly starts to speak again

 

“Do you think that’s where we’ll end up? The eternal middle ground?”

 

Hope takes a moment to think about it. On one hand, they should know better than anyone in the world what happens when you die, because they literally facilitate that. On the other hand, she hasn’t seen a sign of her father in the years since she took up the mantle.

 

“I don’t think we go anywhere around here when we die. I think we get spit out into the darkest part of tartarus and left to be forgotten over time with the rest of the League takes over our duties and eventually moves on.”

 

Penelope scoffs “That wasn’t supposed to be quite such a depressing question but I forgot you’re you for a second, now I regret asking.”

 

Softly the sounds of wailing reach Hope’s ears and she stops “Can we not go all the way to the damn screaming river? It’s bad enough that I can hear it from here.”

 

Penelope turns them around quickly “What? Big bad God of the underworld not a fan of wails of agony before lunch?”

 

“Shockingly enough no, I’m not in the mood to hear the screams of agony of my former loved ones” Hope states, but when she glances over at Penelope she sees the other girl has paled as well “Penelope? You alright?”

 

Penelope glances over her shoulder towards the river once more, before turning back and walking away determinately “I heard Josie. I know it’s just one of those awful tricks this place plays but Hope, I heard her.”

 

Hope stops in her tracks, a wide smile curling across her face “Penelope Park, are you in love?”

 

Penelope drags her to continue walking before smirking “If I say yes you’re never going to let it go are you?”

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

They walk in silence for a while longer, the palace coming into view slowly. Hope sees a good angle and drops Penelope’s hand, going to the side and taking out her phone, snapping a quick picture.

 

“What was that for Mikaelson, I thought we were having a good moment of silence!” Penelope calls over

 

“I’m gonna send it to Lizzie. She was wondering what my palace looked like.”

 

Penelope grins “It’s so cute that you’re so whipped for the bitchier Saltzman” she says as they enter the main hallway of the palace.

 

“She’s not bitchy Penelope, she’s just… sarcastic and has a dry sense of humor. I think you two would really get along if you made an effort.”

 

Landon waves at them from outside Hope’s office and Penelope leads them over. Hope gets a weird feeling in her chest. Something living is here.

 

“What did you guys do?” She asks, moving to open her office door but being blocked by Landon.

 

“We’re getting you something you want. So enjoy. Now Penelope and I are going to be anywhere else but here. Have fun!” Landon unblocks the door and practically flees the scene with Penelope.

 

Hope sighs, focusing and reaching out with her instincts once more. She feels something living, something like she felt last week when Josie was here, but not quite the same. She closes her eyes, focusing on the source, praying it’s not what- or who- she thinks it is. Whatever, whoever, it is, it’s in her office.

 

She opens her eyes and opens the office door.

 

Lizzie Saltzman is sitting on her desk, eating something she can’t quite make out.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“You really know how to greet a girl huh?”

 

Hope walks up to Lizzie and sees what’s in her hands. _Oh shit, oh gods, oh please no._ She slaps the pomegranate seeds out of Lizzie’s hand. “How many of those did you eat?”

 

Lizzie looks shocked and appalled at her actions “Like 6 or 7? God I knew coming down here was a mistake, maybe I should just leave.”

 

“You can’t.”

 

“I-what?”

 

“You ate pomegranate seeds. You now have to stay in the underworld for, how many seeds did you eat? 6? So now you’re doomed to stay in the underworld for 6 months of the year.”

 

Lizzie is speechless. Hope can’t help but find the whole situation kinda funny and more than a little sad.

 

They stand in silence for a while before Lizzie lets out a sad laugh. Hope looks up and sees tears in Lizzie’s eyes. She’s hugging Lizzie close before she can even think about it and something feels so right.

 

Hope’s not sure how long they stay like that, Lizzie crying into her shoulder softly and Hope leaning into it, before Lizzie sniffles and straightens up.

 

“This weird feeling in my gut-” she starts to say before she breaks out into more tears.

 

“It should be subsiding soon. We can check with Landon, he’ll have your return info. That weird feeling is just the alive part of your soul rejecting being in the land of the dead. It should subside when your body processes the pomegranate seeds and realizes that it’s stuck here.”

 

“Anybody ever told you that you’re absolute garbage at comforting a girl?”

 

Hope chuckles “I mean what do you want me to say. ‘Hey Lizzie super great to see you, you’re stuck here now, and you’re gonna feel like garbage until you either marry an underworld dweller or just accept your sad fate?’”

 

Lizzie perks up “I have to marry one of you dweebs?”

 

“Ouch”

 

“Shut it Mikaelson. What about marrying one of you?”

 

Hope doesn’t answer Lizzie, instead opting to rummage through her desk for a thick book that she places on Lizzie’s lap with a distinct _thud_.

 

She rifles through it for a moment while Lizzie looks at her strangely before she comes to the passage she’s looking for. She flips the book around so that Lizzie can read it, then starts to recite it from memory.

 

“If another member of the Grecian League finds themselves in need of an extended stay in the underworld it is the official recommendation of the League that the member marries one of the underworld Gods. This should help ease them into the underworld and make them feel less of an outsider. It will also help them from being mistaken as a lost soul to be judged.”

 

Lizzie looks at her a little strangely, not even bothering to read what’s written. She’s silent for a moment before she asks “So what are my options Mikaelson?”

 

Hope thinks before she puts up 7 fingers, ticking them off as she says names.

 

“Well there’s obviously me, Landon or Penelope, then there’s the lesser known ones like Hecate, Nyx, Styx, and Euryanamos. I’d really not recommend going with him, he’s literally a daemon who eats the skin off of bodies. Incredibly unpleasant.”

 

Lizzie looks a little shocked but Hope continues to ramble “I mean also there’s the furies or the judges, but they’re not official members of the League so I don’t think they would have the same effect.”

 

Lizzie hops off the desk and walks towards Hope but Hope is still rambling “Of course another option would be Achlys, but she’s literally a human personification of sadness, and you seem way too happy-”

 

Lizzie cuts Hope off by pressing her lips against her own. Hope is stunned for a moment before she realizes that _Lizzie Saltzman is kissing her_ and she should definitely kiss her back.

 

So she does.

 

\---

 

Landon hums to himself softly, putting on pasta sauce to boil while he throws garlic bread in the oven. He’s been elected to make dinner for the crew because the chef takes off to the fields before nightfall. He doesn’t really mind though, making dinner is one of the most calming parts of his day, no screaming souls, nobody bargaining to be left on the living side of the river. It’s just him, pasta sauce, and peace and quiet. He breathes in the lovely aromas as the kitchen door slams open, effectively ruining his peace and quiet.

 

Penelope stands in the open door, arms akimbo, looking like she’s ready for a fight.

 

“Landon do you feel weird?”

 

Landon crinkles his nose, thinks for a second before responding “No, I was actually having a pretty good day before you ruined it. I feel fine, I guess.”

 

“Exactly!”

 

“Why do you sound so excited about me feeling fine?”

 

“Because we shouldn’t be feeling so fine!” Penelope hops up on the counter in front of him.

 

“I genuinely don’t follow your logic, Penelope.”

 

The raven haired girl drums her fingers on the counter before responding “Lizzie is here. She’s literally a minor goddess of life and agriculture and grain n’ shit. This morning when you escorted her in you felt weird didn’t you? Like something deep in the pit of your stomach knew you shouldn’t be ferrying her across. We can feel the presence of anyone who shouldn’t be in the underworld. You always give me shit about giving you indigestion when you help Josie come in for the weekend, so I know you know what I’m feeling.”

 

Landon closes his eyes for a minute, reaching deep into the pit of his stomach to search for that feeling of unease. He feels nothing out of the ordinary, except maybe a pang of hunger, but in all fairness the garlic bread smells _really good_. He opens his eyes to see Penelope still staring at him intently.

 

“I don’t feel it, there’s no disturbance of the force or whatever.”

 

“Exactly!”

 

“So that means… Lizzie isn’t here anymore? How’d she get out without me? I really hope she didn’t attempt to cross the river herself or steal my boat.”

 

“Or, it means they’ve eloped and now Lizzie is a minor goddess of both the over and underworld.”

 

Landon scoffs and raises an eyebrow “I don’t really see a world in which that happens Penelope”

 

From down the hall the pair in the kitchen can hear Hope’s voice, bickering and laughing with another, higher, voice.

 

“Act casual Landon!” Penelope looks to Landon and wiggles her eyebrows before she slides off the counter and acts like she’s helping with the pasta.

 

Landon scoffs and shoves her out of the way “Way to keep it casual, you’ve never once helped me cook.”

 

Penelope doesn’t answer when she sees the kitchen door open and two figures walk into the kitchen. Landon’s mouth drops when he sees Lizzie following Hope on an apparent tour.

 

“So this is the kitchen, Landon should be somewhere around here he usually makes dinner- oh hey guys!” Hope finally turns to see Landon and Penelope both staring at them.

 

Penelope breaks out of her stupor first “Hello Hope, hello least favorite Saltzman.”

 

Lizzie crinkles her nose at that, “I kinda figured you liked Josie the best but are you really telling me you like Alaric more than me? I’m actually a little hurt Penelope”

 

Penelope thinks for a moment “You called Josie a zombie-fucker when we first hooked up so you’re still on thin ice from that. But you can somehow make Hope laugh so you’ve gained some points. Does that make you even with King Douchebag? I don’t know, Kirby help me out on the math here” she points at Landon across the room.

 

“Can’t, bi and bad at math.”

 

“Fine. Hope, the math?”

 

“Sorry, also bi and bad at math.”

 

“Jesus Christ, Lizzie?”

 

“I just don’t wanna help you.”

 

“Yeah that’s fair.”

 

Landon shoves a bowl of pasta under Penelope’s nose “Stop being shitty or you won’t get any garlic bread”

 

Penelope grabs the pasta and posts herself up on the counter again “You’re lucky I tolerate you Kirby”

 

Landon offers the others a bowl of pasta and they all settle in on the kitchen island.

 

“This is what you guys do all the time down here? Have family dinners? Do we make smores over a river of fire and sing kumbaya later?” Lizzie asks, taking a forkful of pasta and gesturing around the small group assembled.

 

Hope snaps her fingers “Oh we can go do a grand tour of the outside tomorrow! We do have an actual river of fire!”

 

“Ah Phlegethon, my second to least favorite river.” Landon muses, tearing off a corner of his garlic bread “Least favorite of course has to be Cocytus.”

 

Hope nods in agreement “Cocytus definitely wins for most annoying underworld river, but personally my least favorite is Lethe. I accidentally dipped a foot in that river once and forgot the entire month of July.”

 

“Both can’t compete with the actual shitheel of a river that is Acheron” Penelope pipes in “It flows right under the bridge to my house and every time it splashes up it freakin’ kills.”

 

“What the fuck are you all talking about?” Lizzie asks

 

“Underworld rivers, there are 6 of them and you have” Hope checks an imaginary watch on her wrist “5 months and 29 days to learn all about them”

 

Penelope drops her bowl. It clatters to the ground and spins a few times before coming to a slow stop.

 

Landon looks between Hope and Lizzie a few times, his brain desperately trying to catch up.

 

“Oh yeah forgot to mention to you guys, Lizzie is now stuck here for 6 months out of the year because someone” Hope pointedly glares at Landon “forgot to warn her about the pomegranate seeds on my desk.”

 

“Thanks for that, you overgrown chia pet.” Lizzie snarls in Landon’s direction

 

“I’d be nice to Landon if I were you, if he’s mad at you when the summer equinox comes around he can refuse to ferry you back across” Hope chides, picking up Penelope’s dropped bowl and placing it into the sink.

 

This seems to break Penelope out of her stupor “That’s why I couldn’t feel you earlier! Something was up! I knew it! Either you and Hope eloped while we weren’t looking or you got literally cursed! Wait, you didn’t...?” she points between them.

 

Hope feels her face heat up, standing over the sink and Lizzie clears her throat awkwardly.

 

“I wouldn’t marry Mikaelson on my first day in the underworld” Lizzie says.

 

“Yeah we wouldn-” Hope starts, but she’s cut off by Lizzie.

 

“I was planning to wait until March at least” The blonde finishes, a teasing smile fitting itself onto her face.

 

Landon drops his bowl.

 

\---

 

The next day, Hope gives Lizzie her full tour of the underworld. They still haven’t talked about the kiss, but they’ve got about 6 months to work things out so Hope’s not worried.

 

“I finally get it.” Lizzie say as they’re walking along the river Styx. She bends over and grabs a pebble, skipping it across the still water.

 

“What has the great Lizzie Saltzman finally realized?” Hope asks, sitting on the ground and handing Lizzie another pebble.

 

“What you said that it’s kinda indescribable. I mean I sure don’t know how to describe what we’re doing right now or where we are or what color the sky is.” Lizzie skips another rock over the smooth surface of the river.

 

“Right now I think we’re engaging in the ancient mortal tradition of skipping rocks. I hear those who are good at it are highly lauded in their tribes.” Hope says, throwing a rock into the river. It doesn’t skip, not even once, sinking into the river with a disappointing _plop._ “We’re sitting on the banks of the river Styx and the sky is a” she looks up “kinda depressing grey color. Wait for later when it turns a slightly darker grey color. Exciting stuff.”

 

Lizzie laughs “You have to throw it more sideways, like this” she explains, grabbing Hope’s hand and positioning it so the rock won’t arc in the air.

 

Hope tosses the rock sideways into the river and manages to make it skip once before it falls beneath the water. She and Lizzie take turns after that, Lizzie mostly successfully skipping rocks while Hope fails miserably to get more than one skip.

 

“How are you so good at this?” she eventually asks Lizzie, looking over at the blonde.

 

“When I was away at school there was this lake I would hang out at a lot. My counselor, Emma, always told me to just yell whatever I wanted into the lake. It couldn’t respond, so what’s the harm right?” Lizzie stares off into space, toying with a rock as she speaks “Well one day I was especially angry at my dad for being, how did Penelope put it last night? King of the douchebags? So I was yelling at it like I always do and I guess I must have thrown a rock in because next thing I knew a rock was flying right back at me.”

 

Hope looks at her confused “A rock? Flew back at you from the lake?”

 

Lizzie smiles “I think it was your aunt Freya actually, telling me that someone was listening. A little while after that it became, I guess, sort of a game we’d play where I would skip rocks and see how close to the center of the lake I could get, Freya would throw them back at me. I’m pretty sure Freya’s little lake game is what kept me alive for a while there.”

 

Lizzie has a far away look in her eye that Hope desperately wishes she could make disappear. She hands Lizzie another rock but when their hands meet Lizzie doesn’t let go, electing to play with Hope’s fingers distractedly.

 

“Lizzie I’m so sorry you got sent away” Hope starts but she’s abruptly cut off by Lizzie’s laughter

 

“You know the funniest part about me being sent away? It wasn’t even my fault. Josie set dad’s eagle staff on fire once and I took the fall for it.”

 

“Lizzie why would you… why would you take the fall for something like that?”

 

Lizzie looks over at Hope “My dad was already looking for a reason to send me away, I didn’t want to chance that he’d send Josie away first or to a different place. Josie couldn’t survive that.”

 

Hope is now officially confused “Why was your dad already so ready to send you away?”

 

“Hope we’re literally descended from the Gods. We all have our fair share of mental baggage. Mine manifests in bipolar disorder, Josie sets fires sometimes just to watch them burn, I’m willing to bet you have something behind those sad blue eyes. We all do.” Lizzie lays back on the riverbed, staring up at the endless expanse of dark grey sky.

 

Hope falls beside her “2000-ish years and somehow none of the men in the Grecian League are any better than their original counterparts, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

 

Lizzie scoffs softly “Sometimes we can’t throw all of our blame onto our ancestors, as much as I would like too.”

 

Hope turns her head so she’s facing Lizzie “You know, everyone described you as more… flighty and blonde, but that was downright philosophical of you Saltzman.”

 

“I’m full of surprises Mikaelson, just you wait.”

 

A voice calls out from down the river “Hope? Lizzie? Is that you?” Landon yells.

 

Lizzie groans. Hope laughs a little “Just ignore him, he’ll assume we’re dead.”

 

Before she can process what’s happening Hope is shoved harder into the ground and Lizzie is on top of her with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

 

“What if I don’t want to play dead?” Lizzie asks before she leans in close to Hope’s lips.

 

Hope decides that Lizzie Saltzman makes her feel truly alive.

 

\---

 

“Now Mister… Clarke is it? I’m not going to pretend like I’m not having a fantastic time right now.” Hope says to the barley conscious man hanging in front of her “This actually is pretty close to the highlight of my week.”

 

Clarke lifts his head weekly “Sounds like you had a worse week than I did”

 

Hope thinks for a second “Let’s see your week has been… well you got raided by the police on Monday for being the suspected ringleader of a child porn ring. I don’t even know why I’m saying suspected, you’ve been found guilty by Minos so you’re super guilty. Then Tuesday night you attempted to flee the country. Then in the wee early hours of Wednesday morning your boat mysteriously sunk and you ended up here.” She walks away from Clarke to a nearby table filled with torture instruments. She jots something down on a notepad and selects a hammer. “Sounds like your week sucked honestly.”

 

Clarke stutters “Exactly h-how was your week worse than mine?”

 

“Oh my week? My week has been wonderful actually, I think the girl I like likes me back” she takes a swing at his knee, connecting with a solid _thwump_ “I got to give her a tour of the place and I feel like she really appreciates it for what it is,” _thwump_ “and she’s promised to teach me how to cook breakfast since I usually skip it” _thwump_ “this is just a healthy outlet for my lingering anger over the general state of life. Nasty business but hey, business is business” _thwump._ “You understand that right Clarke?” _thwump._

 

“You think she likes you back? You’re a monster how could anyone like you?” Clarke spits blood at Hope’s feet, an annoying smirk on his face.

 

“See Mister Clarke I used to think so too but then, crazy story, I found out that my dad was actually Hades, you know god of the underworld? Crazy right?”

 

Hope walks over to the table and grabs some nails “and if he still managed to be soft and gentle and loving with me, while also really enjoying his day job, I figure I can do it too.” She places the nail against Clarke’s shoulder and drives it into his skin with the hammer “And also” she drives another nail into the other shoulder “I’m pretty good at separating my work life from my home life.”

 

Clarke cries out in pain. Hope laughs.

 

“Mister Clarke you know what else gives me hope that I can be loved someday?” She drives another nail into him with a solid _whack_ “Is that I have a lot of love to give.” _whack_ “And I may be a hopeless romantic but I’m pretty sure having lots of love to give” _whack_ “is the first step in finding love. Or something like that” _whack_ . “I’ll be honest I read a lot of romance novels as a kid, they were the only thing my mom kept around” _whack._ She straightens up and steps back for a second, admiring her handiwork. She looks at the clock on the wall, startled by how late it is “I truly hope you’ve enjoyed our time together Mister Clarke, but sadly it must come to an end.”

 

Hope patts his cheek gently with the hammer “But don’t worry, I have the perfect place to put you for all eternity...” She calls out “Donovan? Take him down to Algea. Put him on regime 3547A, I think it’ll be a good fit for him. Alright eternal agony awaits, have a good time Mister Clarke.”

 

She grabs a nearby towel as the wraith Donovan enters the room and grabs Clarke. The wraith is starting through the door when Hope calls out again “And Donovan? You don’t have to be careful with him. This is hell after all.” Donovan smiles a bit and exits with Clarke, letting his head bang on the doorway as they move through.

 

“Well shit, that’s one especially unlucky bastard.” Penelope’s voice cuts through Hope’s haze.

 

She looks up at the other girl and smiles “He earned it. He truly truly did.”

 

“Make sure to thank Freya for hand delivering him to me, I got him right as he reached the bottom of the deep blue sea.”

 

Hope chuckles while she disinfects her tools  “I’ll be sure to do that. Have you seen Lizzie this morning? She was talking with Josie when I left”

 

Penelope nods “Yeah she was in the great hall last time I saw her, I told her you had one more appointment before you’d be back to do whatever cute gay shit you were planning on doing” She reaches behind her and pulls out another man from her side bag “Anyway, here’s your special case of the day. Enjoy.” Penelope strings the man up on the wall and he starts to come to.

 

“Thank you Penelope, and hello mister” she checks the notepad “Malachai Parker. How are you doing today?”

 

He spits at her feet “Go to hell.”

 

Hope laughs “You’re already there Mister Parker.”

 

\---

 

“I can’t believe you’ve never made smiley pancakes before! They’re like… childhood happiness in pancake form.” Lizzie says, grabbing bowls and ingredients from the fridge.

 

“I don’t know, my dad was never super happy-go-lucky, god of the underworld and all that.” Hope replies, perching herself on the counter near where Lizzie is setting up.

 

She stops for a moment and looks at Hope “Well in that case, we’ll make a frowny pancake for him.” Lizzie shoves a bowl of dry ingredients into Hope’s hands “Mix.”

 

“Are you always this bossy?” Hope asks, smiling and starting to mix.

 

“Well in the last 3 days I’ve come down to the underworld to surprise a girl I liked, ate cursed pomegranate seeds, changed pretty much my entire life because I now have to stay in the underworld for a majority of the year and oh yeah, my powers aren’t working. So I think I get a free pass to boss you around to make smiley pancakes.”

 

Hope stops mixing “You came down here just because you had a crush on me? I’m honored Saltzman.”

 

“That’s what you got out of that? Not the powers not working thing?”

 

“Oh yeah, your powers should be restored soon enough, I think you’re probably still processing the curse. Or marry me you’ll get your original powers back and probably some cool new ones.” Hope shrugs and begins mixing again.

 

Lizzies hand darts out and grabs the spoon from Hope’s hand, stealing away her mixing tool. “Hope Mikaelson did you just ask me to marry you?” She asks, eyes wide.

 

Hope looks up “I guess I just did yeah. Wow was really not planning on doing that today.” she says, laughing.

 

“Nope! You don’t get to do that!” Lizzie says, gesturing wildly with the spoon Hope was using.

 

“Oh I don’t? Why can’t I?” Hope slides off the counter and takes a step towards Lizzie, arching her eyebrows.

 

“Because… because…” Lizzie stutters, her words faltering as Hope steps closer and closer “Because I might be tempted to say yes.”

 

Hope’s eyes light up “and that would be a bad thing how?”

 

Lizzie scoffs “Have you met my dad? I love him, but he’s a dick. He’d find some way to punish you or me or even the others here if I did. I don’t wish that on anybody.”

 

Hope leans forward, places her hands on Lizzie’s cheeks and says “I really don’t care” before kissing her.

 

Hope hasn’t kissed many people in her life, but she has the feeling that Lizzie Saltzman is on a level all her own when it comes to kissing. It’s like everything else has stopped existing and all that is right now is Lizzie’s lips on her own and Lizzie’s hands on her waist hungrily pulling her closer.

 

Unfortunately, the rest of the world still exists, a fact Hope is reminded of as her back hits the edge of the counter and she lets out a small grunt of pain into the kiss. Lizzie stops kissing her to smirk and lifts her up so she’s sitting on the counter again.

 

“You’re stronger than you look Saltzman” Hope says, breathing heavily.

 

“Told you I’m full of surprises.” Lizzie responds before kissing Hope again.

 

\---

 

“Landon! Landon!” Penelope yells across the river, trying to get his attention.

 

He doesn’t respond but a text pops up on Penelope’s phone.

 

River Monster (1:45) stop yelling, you’re scaring the children.

 

Pen(is) (1:45) When are you coming back to this side? I have exciting news!!

 

River Monster (1:47) like 5 minutes max

 

Penelope settles down on the ground, content to wait for Landon and ignore her other responsibilities. He owes her 5 dollars and she intends to collect after what she walked in on in the kitchen.

 

She waits. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. She texts him again, he doesn’t respond. 30 minutes pass before she sees his boat approach but something’s wrong. She can feel it in her stomach.

 

The boat, usually black in color and somewhat dull, is bathed in a radiant golden light. Only one person would dare make such a dramatic entrance into a realm that isn’t his own. She stands on the bank of the river, watching as Landon ferries Alaric to the other side.

 

She really doesn’t feel like dealing with his pompous ass right now so she fades into the darkness of a nearby tree and sends Landon one last text before running back to the palace at full speed.

 

Pen(is) (2:17) Stall him.

 

Landon feels the buzz in his pocket but he already knows what it says, he saw Penelope use the darkness to her advantage.

 

So Landon does what he does best. He sucks it up, puts on a fake smile, and offers “Sir if you’d like I can take you through the scenic route? I believe Hope was taking Lizzie on a tour down to the Meadow and maybe the Isles today, I think we could catch up with them there.”

 

Alaric looks around the area with a general sort of distaste before nodding “Isles of the Blessed? I’d love to see where I’ll end up. Let’s go.” Landon rolls his eyes.

 

Penelope makes it back to the palace in record time and tries to steel herself before she bangs open the kitchen door as loud as she can, covering her eyes, yelling “Please tell me you stopped making out because Lizzie, your dad is here.”

 

She doesn’t hear any obvious makeout sounds so she lowers he hands to see Lizzie and Hope staring at her with identical terrified expressions, still wrapped up in each other.

 

“You two would be super cute if we weren’t on a time crunch.” Penelope says, putting her hands on her hips and smiling at the girls, “Chop chop, we’re on a clock let’s get this place cleaned up a little ladies!”

 

\---

 

Hope (2:32) Lead him back to the palace, we’re in the kitchen

 

Landon (2:35) Good luck Hope

 

\---

 

Everybody can feel the change when Alaric arrives at the palace but Lizzie is the first to say something about it.

 

“Is the impending doom in my gut just associated with my father or is that the spidey sense you were talking about earlier?” she asks, looking at the others in the room.

 

“That’s just you feeling your dad, all of the Grecian League can feel him.” Hope says, standing next to Penelope who is seated on the counter. Lizzie is still somewhat manning the pancakes because she and Hope had been a little too busy to make them earlier.

 

Voices from outside the hall filter into the kitchen softly at first but growing louder with each passing moment. “How did you not know where they were?” “Well sir I do have an important job to do and that job isn’t to be Hope’s babysitter.” “You don’t have any way of communication with each other?” “Sir this is the underworld, we’re lucky we get cell reception.”

 

The door to the kitchen swings open and there stands Alaric Saltzman.

 

Lizzie smiles, but to Hope it looks somewhat pained, “Hi daddy.”

 

Alaric rushes into the room and scoops Lizzie into a bone crushing hug.

 

Penelope and Landon take that as their cue to leave, sneaking out of the kitchen door.

 

When he puts her down he glares at Hope “You did this. You trapped my daughter here.”

 

Hope bristles at the accusation “I would never do such a thing.” She says, stepping so she’s face to face with the man.

 

Alaric squares up “You kidnapped my daughter and forced her to eat cursed seeds so she would be down here forever! I always thought you were the best of the Mikaelson’s but I guess I was wrong.”

 

Hope knows he’s goading her, knows she shouldn’t rise to the bait, but in that moment she really didn’t care. The lights in the room flicker off and she can feel herself involuntarily drawing power from her realm.

 

Lizzie inserts herself between them “Okay no no no, you are not going to have some godly duel over me.” She places a hand on both of their chests, pushing them apart.

 

She looks to Alaric first “Daddy, don’t be mad at Hope. I came down here and ate the seeds of my own free will, and now I’m suffering the consequences. I’m staying down here for 6 months of the year and that’s final.”

 

She turns to Hope “And you! You don’t need to fluff up your tail feathers like an underworld peacock. Turn the lights back on.”

 

Alaric and Hope stare at each other for a moment before they both take a step back. Hope turns the lights back on.

 

Lizzie lowers her arms and grabs a plate “Now would anyone care for smiley pancakes?”

 

\---

 

The room is tense.

 

Alaric sits at one end of the great table, Hope on the other. Landon and Penelope on her left and right respectively. Lizzie is on her fathers right, looking the most miserable out of all of them.

 

They’re eating a meal but nobody seems to be focusing on their food, they’re just going through the motions.

 

Alaric glares at Hope, as he has been doing nonstop for the last 30 minutes.

 

Landon clears his throat “So Alaric, I have to ask, do you just spend all of your time in Olympus or is that more of like a summer home pocket dimension?”

 

Lizzie puts her head in her hands and groans, Hope is tempted to do the same. Penelope looks all too delighted to watch Landon make forced small talk with the King of Olympus.

 

“It’s my home, Mr. Kirby, but I do most of my business in the mortal realm.” Alaric sighs “It’s nice though, a good separation of work and leisure. Something I see you don’t have too much of in this realm.”

 

Hope forces a smile onto her face “Well most of us are pretty busy but I think we do alright separating our work and home lives. Landon works on the river, Penelope does most of her processing and work with the judges down by the meadows, I mainly just do paperwork and sort out special cases. It’s not awful down here Alaric, as much as you’d like to make it out to be hellish.”

 

Alaric bristles at that “I know exactly what goes on down here Miss Mikaelson. I monitor everything that goes on. I know what kind of sick games you like to play.” He waves his hand and in the air appears a video of Hope. Hope doesn’t recognize it at first but when she does her heart drops.

 

It’s the video from her session with Clarke, right before she sentenced him to eternal damnation.

 

There’s no sound but the image is damning enough, she hits Clarke with a hammer, breaks both of his knees, throws her head back in laughter. There’s nails, they’re being driven into Clarke’s body and he is just _screaming_ in agony.

 

Lizzie looks pale, but she can’t tear her eyes away from the screen.

 

Landon is the first to speak “That was the child porn ringleader right? The one that showed no remorse and tried to flee the country? Looks like the start of eternal damnation to me. He deserved it.”

 

“You are not the judges of what people deserve” Alaric roars, furious. Lizzie bolts out of the room and this is the last straw for Hope.

 

“Except we are Alaric! The judges are actually quite literally the judges of what people deserve. I don’t have time to explain to you exactly how this process works but if you’d like to learn I’m sure you, all powerful King of Olympus, can figure it out.” Hope rises from her chair as she speaks and all the lights in the room go out once more “Until you can learn how to respect our realm and what we do here you need to leave. Landon and Penelope can escort you.”

 

With that Hope bolts out of the room after Lizzie.

 

She finds her about 20 minutes later, on the roof of the palace, in a place Hope had offhandedly mentioned as “my thinking place” when they had done the palace tour.

 

Hope doesn’t approach Lizzie instead opting to say softly “Hey I’m sorry you had to see that.”

 

Lizzie looks over her shoulder, smiles sadly, and pats the ground next to her.

 

Hope sits but keeps a distance between them, whether it’s for Lizzie’s sake or her own, she doesn’t know.

 

They sit in silence for a while before Hope spots a golden light on the horizon. She points it out to Lizzie “I may have told your dad to fuck off by the way, he’s leaving now.”

 

“He didn’t know what he was getting into.” Lizzie flips off the golden light on the horizon “Thanks for nothing daddy.”

 

Hope snorts and they fall into silence once more.

 

“I know what you saw makes me seem like a monster. I mean I guess I am in a way, but I promise that’s not all entirely who I am.”

 

“I don’t think you’re a monster.”

 

Hope’s head shoots up at Lizzie’s words, how could anyone see what she had seen and not think of Hope as a monster?

 

“Okay I mean that was pretty fucked up but… he deserved it right?” Lizzie picks her words carefully.

 

“Leader of a child porn ring. He’s on one of our especially excruciating regimes right now and for all time.” Hope says simply, this part is easy, she’s stating facts and maybe they’re facts about someone’s eternal damnation but to her they’re her everyday life. “Listen Lizzie I know what you saw today might have scared you, but I promise you won’t have to see anything else like that again.”

 

Lizzie laughs “Hope, we’re literally in hell and I’m going to be here for a majority of the year, you can’t exactly protect me from the main purpose of this place.”

 

“Underworld, not hell. Very important distinction”

 

Lizzie rolls her eyes “God you’re such a nerd. Underworld, hell, what’s the difference really.”

 

“Eternal damnation mostly, hell as we think of it mainly exists just for punishment, whereas this place also exists for pleasure.” Hope smiles briefly before turning serious again “But really Lizzie I can keep it far away from you if you want, you never have to see something like that as long as I’m around to protect you.”

 

“Hope, as hot as it is that you’re deeply protective, I’m not some child you need to shield from the world. I’m an adult, I make my own choices.” Lizzie says, turning to Hope and scooting closer. “And I’m choosing to be right here right now with you.”

 

Hope can’t help the smile that breaks across her face “Have I ever told you how wonderful you are? Because you are so incredibly wonderful.”

 

Lizzie laughs “You haven’t actually but you should start, it’s nice to hear.” She leans her head on Hope’s shoulder.

 

“You are absolutely wonderful, Lizzie Saltzman” Hope whispers into her hair, kissing the crown of her head softly.

 

For the first time in a long time, Lizzie believes it.

 

\---

 

The next morning Hope wakes up feeling warm. Wait, she’s never warm. Constantly being in the underworld means her body temperature runs a few degrees colder than most, she shouldn’t be warm. Hope opens her eyes and finds blonde hair obscuring her vision.

 

She sits up a little bit and sees Lizzie, holding on to her for dear life. Hope thinks back to last night, remembers that Lizzie had gone back to her own room to sleep, and is even more confused as to why she woke up with a mouthful of blonde hair.

 

Hope decides that if nothing else she should at least make breakfast so she spares a look over at the blonde, who seems to still be asleep, before attempting to quietly slip out of bed.

 

The attempt fails, because of course it does, and she trips on blankets, trying desperately to stop herself from falling but still landing face down on the floor.

 

“Well that’s no way to treat a cute girl in your bed” she hears from above her and looks up to see Lizzie sitting up with a radiant smile on her face.

 

“Would you believe me if I said I was just going to make smiley pancakes for breakfast?” Hope asks, disentangling herself from the blanket mess and sitting back up on the bed.

 

“Based on the way you burned pretty much every pancake you tried to make when I taught you. No, I wouldn’t really believe you.”

 

“Ouch Saltzman.”

 

“Get scared when you wake up with a pretty girl in your bed? First time it’s happened?”

 

“Ouch again Saltzman.” Hope lays back, her head resting on Lizzie’s lap.

 

Lizzie starts to card her fingers through her hair “I had a nightmare last night so I came to find you, but you didn’t exactly wake up.”

 

Hope closes her eyes as Lizzie gently plays with her hair, feeling the most relaxed she has in ages “It’s alright, I’m a heavy sleeper. Wanna talk about it?”

 

“Can you show me the video my dad tried to show yesterday? All of it. With the sound and everything.”

 

Hope shoots up, staring at Lizzie incredulously “Why did you jump from nightmare to awful video to… oh.” she slouches back as she connects the dots “Lizzie god I’m so sorry.”

 

Lizzie realizes what she’s thinking “No no, it’s not like that. My nightmare was just a reoccuring one with my sister, not anything to do with that video. But I do think I’ll be less creeped out by the video if I can like… see and hear it all. Just so I know what you do.”

 

Hope arches an eyebrow “Are you sure it’s… it’s a lot, I’m warning you now.”

 

Lizzie stares back at her “I saw you break a mans kneecaps and then laugh about it, it can’t get much worse.”

 

Hope whistles under her breath “oh but it can.”

 

“Hope please, I just… I need to know. It’ll be like immersion therapy.”

 

Hope aquiests and waves a lazy hand and the video of her with Clarke appears in midair again. This time, the video starts with sound.

 

Hope hears herself introducing herself to Mister Clarke, explaining what she’s doing and why he’s here. It’s when they get to the true torture part that Hope can no longer look at the video playing, so she looks around the room instead, looking anywhere that’s not the blonde girl sitting next to her.

 

 _“Now Mister… Clarke is it? I’m not going to pretend like I’m not having a fantastic time right now.”_ Video-Hope sneers at the man. _“This actually is pretty close to the highlight of my week.”_

 

Lizzie pushes Hope to get her attention, frowns a little bit, and moths “highlight of your week?” Hope just waves her away.

 

_“Let’s see your week has been… well you got raided by the police on Monday for being the suspected ringleader of a child porn ring. I don’t even know why I’m saying suspected, you’ve been found guilty by Minos so you’re super guilty. Then Tuesday night you attempted to flee the country. Then in the wee early hours of Wednesday morning your boat mysteriously sunk and you ended up here.”_

 

She can see video-Hope taking notes, meticulous as always, before she picks up a hammer.

 

_“Sounds like your week sucked honestly.”_

 

Hope is eternally grateful that the video didn’t quite pick up Clarke’s stuttering. She reaches over and grabs Lizzie’s hand almost on impulse, she knows what happens next.

 

 _“Oh my week? My week has been wonderful actually, I think the girl I like likes me back” she takes a swing at his knee, connecting with a solid_ **_thwump_ ** _“I got to give her a tour of the place and I feel like she really appreciates it for what it is,”_ **_thwump_ ** _“and she’s promised to teach me how to cook breakfast since I usually skip it”_ **_thwump_ ** _“this is just a healthy outlet for my lingering anger over the general state of life. Nasty business but hey, business is business”_ **_thwump_ ** _“You understand that right Clarke?”_ **_thwump._ **

 

Lizzie visibly flinches at every hammer hit, then turns to Hope “That wasn’t actually so bad.”

 

Hope shakes her head and makes the blonde turn back to the screen “There’s more.”

 

Video-Hope is stepping back, admiring her handiwork. Current Hope can practically see the wheels inside her own head spinning.

 

_“See Mister Clarke I used to think so too but then, crazy story, I found out that my dad was actually Hades, you know god of the underworld? Crazy right?”_

 

Video-Hope walks over to the table and grabs some nails _“If he still managed to be soft and gentle and loving with me, while also really enjoying his day job, I figure I can do it too.”_

 

Video-Hope is not gentle with the first nail she drives into Clarke’s shoulder. Nor the second.

 

_“I’m pretty good at separating my work life from my home life.”_

 

Video-Hope throws her head back in laughter and Hope feels Lizzie curl in on herself.

 

Hope has never felt more like a monster.

 

 _“Mister Clarke you know what else gives me hope that I can be loved someday?”_ **_whack_ ** _“Is that I have a lot of love to give.”_ **_whack_ ** _“And I may be a hopeless romantic but I’m pretty sure having lots of love to give”_ **_whack_ ** _“is the first step in finding love. Or something like that”_ **_whack_ ** _. “I’ll be honest I read a lot of romance novels as a kid, they were the only thing my mom kept around”_ **_whack._ **

 

Video-Hope finally takes a step back, writing more notes as she goes.

 

_“I truly hope you’ve enjoyed our time together Mister Clarke, but sadly it must come to an end.”_

 

_Video-Hope pats his cheek gently with the hammer “But don’t worry, I have the perfect place to put you for all eternity...”_

 

As the video ends Hope looks away from Lizzie and doesn’t look back.

 

“Hope…” Lizzie tries to start but Hope doesn’t respond.

 

Hope suddenly feels soft lips on her neck and she recoils away. Lizzie doesn’t let her get far though, wrapping her arms around her midsection and pulling her back so Hope is practically sitting in her lap.

 

Lizzie continues to plant soft kisses on Hope’s neck until Hope speaks “How?”

 

“How what?” Lizzie mumbles into the back of her neck.

 

“How are you still even here right now? After what you just saw how are you still right here?”

 

“Because you’re not the monster you think you are, Hope.”

 

Hope spins in Lizzie’s lap, now face to face with the other girl. “How could you say that? You just watched me torture a man and enjoy it.”

 

“He deserved it and you were in work mode. That’s not you, Hope. That’s scary god of the underworld Hope.”

 

“Scary-god-of-the-underworld-Hope is just me.”

 

Lizzie places a soft kiss on her neck again before speaking “Scary god of the underworld Hope isn’t the same Hope that can’t skip rocks to save her life.” Lizzie kisses her again “It’s not the same Hope that refused to watch Paranormal activity with me because she said it was too scary.” another soft kiss “It might be the same Hope that stood up to my dad and basically kicked his ass out of the underworld. But it’s not the same Hope. Not really”

 

Hope lays her head on Lizzie’s shoulder, trying to collect her thoughts, when Lizzie speaks again.

 

“All of us have that dark side, we need to, we’re the gods of the world. Gods who are full of wrath and vengeful and terrible. But we’re also people. People who are soft and kind and stand up for the people we love.” she says softly into Hope’s ear “and you’re just doing your job. You’re not a monster.”

 

Hope doesn’t know when she starts crying but she’s safe and warm in Lizzie’s arms and maybe, just maybe, she doesn’t feel like quite a monster.

 

\---

 

It’s two months later at family dinner when Landon brings up the big question.

 

“So when are you two actually getting married?”

 

Hope drops her plate as Lizzie busts out laughing.

 

“Yeah Mikaelson, when are we getting married?” the blonde turns to Hope with a teasing smile on her face.

 

Penelope looks between them before turning to Landon “10 bucks says they already got married and just haven’t told us.”

 

Landon shakes Penelope’s hand “15 bucks says they haven’t yet. Lizzie wouldn’t have her wedding without Josie.”

 

Lizzie arches an eyebrow at Landon “Not bad for a glorified school bus driver.”

 

Hope clears her throat “We aren’t married yet, Lizzie won’t give me a straight answer to any of the times I’ve proposed to her.”

 

Penelope spits out her water all over Landon “Any of the times you’ve proposed to her? As in plural?”

 

Hope turns to Lizzie “Actually how many times have I proposed to you now?”

 

Lizzie stares off into the distance “Well once in the kitchen over smiley pancakes, at least two times by the river Styx, once on the roof, once after I made you watch the Notebook.”

 

Landon cleans himself off “And you’ve said no every time? Damn, you holding out to marry me or something?”

 

Lizzie scoffs “In your dreams Kirby, Mikaelson just hasn’t presented a ring yet, so it doesn’t count as an official proposal.”

 

Penelope slaps Hope on the back of the head “You might be the most useless person I’ve met in my entire life. Give the girl a ring!”

 

Landon looks offended on Lizzie’s behalf “Hope you’re the god of the underworld but you can’t find a ring to give your girlfriend?”

 

Lizzie smiles “Yeah Hope give the girl a ring already.”

 

Hope looks around the room “I hate all of you.”

 

\---

 

Finding an appropriate ring for Lizzie Saltzman is a nearly impossible task, even if you are the all powerful God of the Underworld.

 

“Hope? What are you doing here?” Josie stands in the open door, confused at Hope’s sudden presence outside of her house.

 

“I need your help.”

 

Josie smiles “Come on in, I think I know what this is about.”

 

Hope settles in Josie’s comfortable living room while the other girl grabs some tea for them. As soon as Josie puts the cup in Hope’s hand she’s speaking and it’s like she can’t stop.

 

“I’m gonna ask Lizzie to marry me and I have absolutely no idea how to actually do it. I figured before I do it for real I should ask you, and like, get your help on it. I also have no idea what kind of ring to get for her like does she like a princess cut or does she like something more basic. What color should I get her, gold, silver, or rose gold? How do I do it do I just like… ask her whenever I feel like it or should I make a big deal out of it? I mean this is Lizzie we’re talking about, she’ll want me to make a big deal out of it won’t she? I really want to make it special for her but I don’t know. Is it too soon? Should I wait until next year? I mean I’ve only known her for like 3 months but I love her and-”

 

Josie cuts Hope off by placing a gentle hand on her arm “Hope. Breathe. If you want to live long enough to propose you need to breathe.”

 

Hope takes a deep breath before her eyes widen comically “Holy shit I love her.”

 

Josie giggles “Yeah, that much is obvious.”

 

“Josie you can’t tell her I said that or came here at all, I’m serious.”

 

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed. Now about that ring, I think I have just the thing.” Josie gets up off the couch and gestures for Hope to follow her through the house. They arrive at a small back sunroom, where Caroline is relaxing on a chair, eyes closed.

 

Josie approaches first “Hey mom”

 

Caroline’s eyes fly open “Josie? Something feels off around here, is Penelope here?”

 

“No mom, actually it’s Hope.”

 

Caroline sits up straight and her eyes fall onto Hope, narrowing slightly “I heard the stunt you pulled with Alaric in the underworld. You’ve got some nerve, Mikaelson.”

 

“Ms. Forbes I’m truly sorry, but he kinda deserved it. Lizzie even agreed with me.”

 

Caroline remains stoic for a moment before breaking out into laughter.

 

Josie looks between them confusedly before gesturing to Hope and clearing her throat “Hope actually had something to ask you mom.”

 

Oh shit.

 

“Ms. Forbes I actually was wondering if-”

 

Caroline cuts her off “You want to marry my daughter.”

 

Hope’s eyes widen “I… yes how did you?”

 

“I may have given up my mantle but I still have ears darling.” Caroline smiles and rises from her chair “Here.” she takes a ring off of her left hand and hands it to Hope. It’s simple, rose gold with a small emerald leaf set on it. On the inside she sees an engraving _Always and Forever._

 

Hope’s breath catches in her throat as she looks up at Caroline. The older woman smiles and draws her into a hug. “Your father gave me that ring as a gift, I think it’s only fitting that it goes full circle.”

 

Caroline holds her out at arms length and looks her up and down once “Now can you please put my lovely daughter out of her misery and just ask her already? I haven’t heard the end of it since your first kiss.”

 

Hope stutters “Wait she’s told you about that?”

 

“Oh honey she’s told me about everything.”

 

\---

 

A few days later Hope isn’t sure how long she’s been standing outside of the room when Lizzie opens the door “I’ve been waiting for you to knock but you obviously aren’t going to, get in here.”

 

Hope enters the room and closes the door behind her. “I was wondering if you’d like to go for a walk with me” she starts, looking around the room to see how Lizzie has decorated it. It’s vibrant and green and full of life and so _uniquely Lizzie._

 

When she looks back over to Lizzie the blonde girl has her shirt off and Hope’s brain short circuits. The other girl isn’t paying attention to Hope, changing out her shirt and bra without a care in the world. Hope keeps staring at her until they make eye contact in the mirror and she sees that Lizzie’s mouth has been moving.

 

Lizzie smirks “did you hear anything I just said, Hope?”

 

“If I say yes would you believe me?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then no.”

 

“I said I’d love to go for a walk, but we gotta stop by the kitchen first.” Lizzie states, grabbing her phone from her desk and standing by the door.

 

“Why the kitchen?” Hope asks as they start down the hallway and take a left. Lizzie doesn’t answer her so Hope just goes along with it.

 

As they enter the kitchen Hope notices a row of small pots by the window that Lizzie makes a beeline for.

 

She’s mumbling something under her breath that Hope can’t make out so she moves closer to the blonde “Lizzie? What are those?”

 

Lizzie pours water carefully into the small pots “Well they’re dying for one. Landon mentioned he never had any fresh herbs to cook with so I’m trying to grow some basil and parsley for him to use.”

 

Lizzie puts down the water and hops up onto the counter next to the plants, talking to them softly. “You’ll pull through though won’t you little one?” The blonde looks back at Hope “Hope do you mind if I try to make a garden somewhere around the palace?” and looks back at the plants “I think I can make something grow down here after all.”

 

Hope can’t stop herself before she blurts out “Marry me.”

 

Lizzie looks up at her calmly “Ring first Mikaelson”

 

Hope kneels and pulls the ring out of her pocket before saying again “Marry me.”

 

Lizzie’s mouth falls open and her eyebrows skyrocket, she slips off the counter and stands in front of Hope “Are you serious right now?”

 

Hope glances around the empty kitchen “Serious as a heart attack. I asked your mom and she gave me this ring so now I’m seriously asking you, Lizzie Saltzman will you marry me?”

 

Lizzie grabs Hope’s hands and haul her upright “Well when you put it like that…” she leans forward, kisses Hope softly, and says “yes.”

 

\---

 

Their wedding is a few weeks later, in a small garden that Lizzie had managed to nurse back to health.

 

The underworld is greener afterwards, there’s more life in the place than Hope has ever seen before.

 

Hope feels more alive than ever before.

 

Lizzie gets her powers back tenfold. She’s able to grow what she pleases in the underworld but now she appreciates the death of things too. Josie jokes that they’re perfectly opposite twins now, Lizzie taking care of the death while Josie brings life.

 

Hope doesn’t quite agree with that, but she’s not one to start fights with her new sister-in-law.

 

\---

 

It’s March when Lizzie is called back to the overworld.

 

They say a soft goodbye and promise to talk every day until Lizzie can come back. Hope can’t follow her or leave the underworld during this time, can’t upset the balance of nature.

 

She’s never wanted to break the rules more.

 

When Lizzie leaves, Hope feels more broken than ever before.

 

\---

 

To deal with her love being gone Hope throws herself into work.

 

The underworld has never felt more like hell.

 

There is no mercy, no forgiveness, just eternal torture.

 

\---

 

It’s the middle of June when Penelope finds Hope in the dungeons, dragging a poor soul out of their normal regime to spend some _one-on-one time_ with her.

 

Malachai Parker spits at Hope’s face.

 

After that he can’t spit anymore.

 

Penelope whistles lowly under her breath “Damn Mikaelson, I’ve never really been scared of you before but looks like I might have to start.”

 

“What do you want Penelope?” Hope says, panting from the exertion. Mr. Parker passed out nearly immediately but that doesn’t mean that what she’s doing doesn’t hurt.

 

“Let’s have a movie night.” Penelope snaps her fingers and Mr. Parker disappears back into his regime.

 

Hope practically growls “I was doing important work there Penelope.”

 

“Ah yes, important work like ignoring the fact that you miss Lizzie more than anything else in the world and you would tear through entire countries to get her back sooner?”

 

“... yes.”

 

They’re halfway through a marathon of the Fast and the Furious movies when Landon brusts into the room, delivering the best news Hope has heard in 3 months “Alaric called a meeting.”

 

For the first time ever, Hope is thankful that Alaric Saltzman has a flair for the dramatic.

 

\---

 

The day of the meeting Hope wakes up at 6 am.

 

The meeting doesn’t start until 2 pm.

 

She spends the day in agony.

 

At 1:30 Penelope knocks on her door and asks softly “ready to see your girl?”

 

Hope beams.

 

They make it to Olympus at 1:35.

 

Hope catches sight of Lizzie immediately, the blonde has her back turned to Hope and is talking to Raf, laughing at whatever unfunny thing he said.

 

Raf puts a hand on Lizzie’s arm and Hope sees red.

 

She stalks up behind Lizzie silently, glaring daggers at the boy.

 

“Hands off my wife, bloodhound” Hope says, her voice steely calm.

 

Lizzie perks up and turns around with a big smile on her face “You’re hot when you’re protective.” she states before wrapping Hope up in her arms.

 

For the first time in months Hope feels like she can finally breathe, which is ironic considering Lizzie is squeezing all the air out of her lungs.

 

Raf, Landon, Penelope, and Josie all watch the scene with a smile.

 

Raf says “So they’re like… _married_ married huh?”

 

Lizzie overhears his comment and turns to him “Excellent observation Officer McGruff.”

 

Everybody looks confused so Lizzie elaborates “Oh come on! The crime stopping super-pooch? Nobody? Really?”

 

Raf has the good sense to look insulted, even if he doesn’t quite understand what’s going on.

 

\---

 

After the meeting Olympus clears out pretty quickly, save for the underworld kids and the Saltzman’s. Hope is still seated on her throne, Lizzie draping herself over Hope. They’re talking softly and Hope never wants this moment to end.

 

“Oh so fun fact about me now, I bring curses upon farmers. Not like proper famine stuff, but if they do something shitty I have this all-consuming need to make sure they suffer. Josie looked into it and apparently I am now in the books as the bringer of curses from the underworld” Lizzie says, playing with the baby hairs on the back of Hope’s neck softly.

 

Hope suppresses a shiver and a smile “That’s kinda hot.”

 

“You know what else is unbearably hot? The fucking overworld. I almost prefer the constant chill of the underworld at this point.”

 

“You’re truly one of us now babe.” Hope smiles, peppering kisses all over Lizzie’s face.

 

A cough directly in front of them causes Hope to stop and look up, directly into the eyes of Alaric Saltzman. She feels herself straighten up as Lizzie disentangles herself from her lap.

 

“What do you want Alaric?”

 

“I wanted to congratulate you on your wedding, I was going to come but I got pulled away on business. Missing planes and eco terrorists and the like.”  Alaric shifts on his feet, looking genuinely uncomfortable “I wanted to give you both your present while I had you here.” He gestures to a large flat package, clumsily wrapped in dark green paper, standing behind him.

 

“You’re still so bad at wrapping presents daddy” Lizzie slips off of Hope’s lap and circles around the package a few times.

 

Hope also stands, but elects to stand between Lizzie and Alaric instead.

 

Alaric notices and laughs slightly “it’s just a wedding gift Hope, open it, it won’t bite.”

 

Lizzie rips the paper off of it to reveal a beautiful painting. It’s a painting of the world, she supposes, near the bottom she can see the dark beauty of the underworld. The ocean is painted with beautiful blues and greens. Above that, the dark clouds and bright yellow of lightning of Olympus shine.

 

Hope sees the signature in the corner and she gasps “Alaric… is this?”

 

“A painting your father did. He gave it to me on my wedding day, and even though I didn’t accept it then I eventually did. I think he’d want me to give it to you now.”

 

Hope is surprised by the tears she feels building behind her eyes, even more surprised when Alaric wraps her into a hug.

 

“I’m sorry for everything” he says softly into the crown of her head “Thank you for making my daughter happy.”

 

Later, Alaric gently kicks them both out of Olympus because they’re overstaying their welcome. He understands though, and he allows them to say a heartfelt goodbye.

 

“3 more months.” Lizzie says, but to Hope it sounds more like _I love you._

 

“3 more months.” Hope replies _I love you too._

 

\---

 

3 months has never felt more like a lifetime.

 

\---

 

August 31st comes and Hope can hardly contain her excitement. She makes Landon ferry her over to the living side of the Styx at 10 pm so she can be there when Lizzie comes back.

 

2 hours.

 

She’s seeing the light of her life in 2 hours.

 

Penelope and Landon both hang back in the boat, not wanting to encroach on Hope’s space but also wanting to see the lover’s reunion.

 

“I bet Lizzie brings her roses or something equally sappy.” Penelope says, holding out 5 dollars.

 

“I bet Hope reads Lizzie some of the poetry she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s been writing.” Landon replies, smiling at his friend pacing along the riverbank.

 

Penelope jolts upright “She’s been writing poetry? Oh my god what has Lizzie done to the Hope Mikaelson we all know and love?”

 

“Don’t tell her I said that or that we know, but I had to grab her signature on Perseus’ return forms last week and she had her journal open on the desk. I saw part of it before she made me leave.”

 

“Oh my god that’s somehow the best and worst thing I’ve ever heard” Penelope hands Landon the 5 dollar bill “I feel like I should pay you just for that information.”

 

Landon smiles and takes the money.

 

1 hour.

 

Hope’s pacing wears a path in the ground.

 

Penelope keeps magically refilling it when she’s not looking.

 

30 minutes.

 

Hope checks her watch again.

 

And again.

 

And again.

 

5 minutes.

 

Hope can’t parse the feeling she has deep in her gut, like something new is blooming, like butterflies are erupting and threatening to burst from her at any moment.

 

1 minute.

 

Hope sees a soft white light come from down the tunnel to the overworld.

 

Hope surges forward but is met with a barrier that she can’t cross.

 

“Miss me?” a soft voice laughs.

 

The butterflies in Hope’s gut explode at the same moment Lizzie crashes into her arms.

 

This is what heaven feels like. She’s sure of it.

 

\---

 

Lizzie spits out her drink “you? wrote poetry? Honest to gods, ‘her smile is the sun’ kinda poetry?”

 

Hope blushes and looks down “Well I also started painting again after your dad gave us the wedding gift. But yeah I started writing too.” she looks back up and points an accusing finger at Lizzie “I have a lot of emotions to process because _somebody_ left for 6 months!”

 

Lizzie rolls her eyes affectionately “Get a hobby”

 

“Those are my hobbies!”

 

“Oh. Right” Lizzie wraps her arms around Hope “So when do I get to read it?”

 

“Never?”

 

“I want to read all of your big emotions and feelings, please baby?”

 

Hope casts her eyes downward at the pet name, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. Lizzie notices her movement with a smile.

 

“Oh my god!”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Anything for you _babygirl_ ” Lizzie practically purrs in her ear.

 

Hope is pretty sure that if she wasn’t dead already, she would die happy in this moment.

 

\---

 

The basil plant, which Landon had nearly killed, comes back to life better than ever.

 

The rest of the underworld follows.

 

\---

 

“Wait so the wraith guys were the nine human kings who had the original rings?”

 

“They’re called ringwraiths and yeah they’re endlessly searching for Sauron's ring so that they can come back to life!”

 

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why do the rings bring them back to life, why only Sauron’s if they also had rings once upon a time?”

 

Lizzie throws some popcorn at Hope’s face in lieu of telling her to shut up “It doesn’t have to make sense it’s the best fantasy adventure ever written!”

 

When Hope had mentioned that she had never seen the Lord of the Rings movies earlier in the week she really hadn’t thought it was a big deal, but to Lizzie it was apparently a _CRIME_ that had to be rectified immediately.

 

Lizzie had given Hope 30 minutes to finish up any work she needed done while she made snacks, then ordered everyone to leave them alone for approximately 24 hours.

 

Needless to say, Hope was terrified.

 

Lizzie had grabbed Hope’s hand after exactly 30 minutes and hauled her into their bedroom, where she had set up a pillow fort and a wide array of snacks. When they settled down to watch the first movie Lizzie had gravitated towards Hope until she was practically laying across her lap.

 

Hope notices that now that her wife is back she always finds some excuse to be touching her. It’s a touch to the small of her back while she slips behind her in the kitchen, grabbing her hand while they’re out for a walk, or touching her knee while sitting down to eat.

 

Lizzie reaches out for Hope like she anchors her. Hope wonders if she notices.

 

What Hope does know is that Lizzie is her anchor. Something solid. Something that brings her back down to earth. Something that makes the world keep spinning.

 

Her sun.

 

Lizzie had joked about it earlier but it was true. The blonde was the sun and Hope was just helplessly in orbit of her, trying to bask in the light while she can.

 

“Hello? Earth to Hope?” Lizzie waves a hand in front of her face.

 

“You’ve been staring off into space for like 10 minutes now, I can practically hear the wheels in your head turning. Think any harder and steam is going to start coming out of your ears.” The blonde rewinds the movie a bit, Hope had apparently missed a lot, then snuggles back into her side. “What were you thinking about?”

 

“You.” Hope looks down at the girl in her arms, her _wife._

 

“And what were you thinking about me?” Lizzie looks up, kisses her softly on the nose.

 

“I’m thinkin’ that just being here with you is the best thing in the world.”

 

Lizzie smiles and Hope feels her heart flutter, feels truly and fully _alive._

 

“I love you too and I love being here with you but you know what would make it better?”  Lizzie asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

 

Hope leans in so their lips are almost brushing “what do you suggest?”

 

Lizzie’s breath ghosts across her lips as she responds “You shutting up and enjoying the best fantasy adventure ever made” the blonde pulls back with a smile “Oh and if we’re just listing things a puppy would be really nice too.”

 

Hope groans, they are so not getting a dog.

 

\---

 

Two weeks later Hope gets Lizzie a puppy.

 

They name it Cerberus and Lizzie almost cries from happiness when the small black dog licks her face.

 

She looks up at Hope and says “I love you” like it’s the only thing in the universe that matters.

 

To Hope Mikaelson it is.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey thanks for reading all the way to the end of this ridiculously long one-shot! I hope you enjoyed it! You can find me on twitter @WhoopsItsGay to yell about Hizzie or to just yell at me in general.


End file.
